An Engagement Adventure

    So, most of you already know, but for anyone who may not have heard...
J proposed over the weekend and we are now officially engaged!

    As I mentioned in an earlier post, we've been together for just over 9 years now, and have been living together for the last year and a half, so most people weren't too surprised to hear the news. We'd talked about marriage and family before, and in our hearts I think we knew that we will always be together..
    I want to start by saying that J did manage to surprise me. I wasn't expecting it, at least, not entirely. We had already talked about it, and we'd been to visit my uncles (who are jewelers) and I'd told them what I liked and wanted.. and my uncles had hinted that the ring would be made before the end of the year.. but I also knew that J wouldn't really have the opportunity to sneak off and get it. So, to those few sneaky people (you know who you are) who helped J in his secret plot... thank you, but you are so sneaky!! Perhaps I can convince J to tell his side of the story in a future post ;)
    So, I should start by saying that J played it very cool and did a good job of making it seem like he wasn't up to anything. On Friday night, he asked what I'd like to do that weekend. It would pretty much be one of our last weekends on our own before our trip to New Zealand, so we definitely wanted to do something fun together. He made a few suggestions for places we could go, the gardens or the Getty or the LaBrea Tar Pits, and I told him that any of those things sounded good to me. So, later that night, he checked out special event calendars for all of our spots, and suggested that the Getty Center would be a great idea, especially since it seemed like it might rain.
    And rain it did. So we made our way to the Getty Center, J with a ring apparently burning a hole in his pocket, and me, unaware and with camera in hand (as usual). We had lunch at the cafe on the terrace, which was nice despite the spray of mist coming from the hills. I was a little sad that the gardens were closed (I assume it was due to the weather), but we decided to make the best of it and check out the galleries. We attended one of the free tours of their new exhibit, which was full of pre-renaissance art. My favorite things were the beautifully scripted and elaborate texts. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take photographs :(
    After the tour, we meandered over to where all the large paintings are housed. We wandered around talking about the different pieces and what we liked and didn't like. Then, we wandered over to J's favorite room, which houses a few Monet paintings as well as one of our favorites "Irises" by Van Gough. J loves Van Gough! Perhaps this can give us another awesome reason to go to New York, since (I think) Starry Night is located there.

     We checked out the cactus garden from one of the many terraces, and meandered to the uppermost spot to get a view of the cityscape below. From up above, with the fog rolling over the hills, and the mist drifting in and out, it was almost like we were standing above the clouds. It was on one of these terraces that we lingered a bit longer. I was distracted, taking photographs of Birds of Paradise flowers. Taking a LOT of pictures of them. I told him I like them because they're so unique and interesting. They're rather peculiar looking flowers! J joked "like me!" or something, which made me laugh.

    When I finally put my camera away, he came over and hugged me tight, which was nice since it was a little chilly. He told me he loved me and that I was beautiful. I feel bad, because, whenever he says such nice things, I always jokingly rebut them (I'm very contrary), and this was no exception. He called me beautiful and I said "nah, not really" and told me that I was wonderful and smart, to which I said something like "that's debatable". He just smiled and said that he loved my sense of humor. Then said that he loved me and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. And that's when he asked me.. as we were standing there, holding eachother close, alone on the terrace, surrounded by mist.
    Of course I said yes! Well, I think I said something more along the lines of "yes, of course I will". And he hugged me even tighter, then reached into his pocket and fished out the little box. He hadn't opened it before, and it was still in it's wrappings with a little pink bow. We eventually got it open (my hand were shaking) and placed the ring on my finger. I hugged him as hard as I could and we just stood like that for a long while.
     Eventually, we wandered back towards our favorite room, stopping along the way to check out one of the exhibits we missed. This one was full of ornate furnishings and tapestries (I love tapestries), and they even had a room of mirrors. We took advantage of that and took a few pictures, trying to capture us as well as our numerous reflections.

We ended our day on a little bench right in front of the painting of Irises.

     After a nice dinner at our favorite restaurant, it was time to tell the family. I called my sister first, and then the rest of my family, one by one. J called his parents and eventually his grandparents. By the time we were through, we were thoroughly exhausted! It was such an amazing, surprising, wonderful, joyous day.. and I am so happy and excited to be engaged to the guy of my dreams, love of my life, and best friend in the whole world.